The Myth of February 6th in France

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After World War II, a fascist writer named Robert Braciac was executed for collaborating with the Nazis. He liked to say that his enthusiasm for fascism was inseparable from the memory of February 6th, 1934. Far right groups hold these rallies every year in Paris and cities around France. They celebrate those who were killed attacking Parliament as martyrs to a cause they're still fighting for today.

A violent right-wing mob interrupts lawmakers formalizing the transfer of power to a new leader. But this isn’t Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, but rather Paris on February 6, 1934. Rachel Maddow and Isaac-Davy Aronson explore that earlier event, the way it reverberates to this day and how it could help us understand what January 6 will mean for the U.S.

Featuring guests:
Jonathan Katz, author of Gangsters of Capitalism
Alice Kaplan, Sterling Professor of French at Yale University, author of The Collaborator: The Trial and Execution of Robert Brasillach

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